Sprint is unable to activate my old iPhone 4s on their network

You've just reinforced my decision to never do business with Sprint.

TXcrude wrote:

Have they ever heard about GSM ?

Any advise would be appreciated.

Considering they are a CDMA based carrier... I would have to say... No, they have not. 😉

In any case, not sure if you can take this to your local Better Business Bureau or equivalent institution in your area and file a complaint with them.

Basically, Sprint should be able to activate any phone that was officially made to work with them at any time as long as the device can be used with their current networks. Which for an iPhone 4s, should be no issue at all.

You can also try to escalate the matter to a Manager at a Sprint store or Customer center, or contact their Support department, and escalate it there.

I do not believe Sprint can deny service on a device meant for their network simply because they get an activation error. Because if they can't activate it nobody else can.

This may sound silly but have you tried to DFU restore the phone and then activate it?

First: Put the device into DFU mode.

DFU MODE STEPS

1. Hold the Power Button (3 secs)
2. Continue holding the power button and also hold the home button (15 secs)
3. Release the power button while continuing to hold the home button (10 secs)
4. Your device should prompt with the "Connect to iTunes Screen"

Second: Plug it into your computer and open iTunes. It will either prompt to restore and up date or you can manually restore using the following steps.IOS Restore StepsBefore restoring:

• Verify that you are using the latest version of iTunes.
• Back up your device.
• Transfer and sync content to your computer.

Restoring your iOS device

1. Connect your device to your computer.
2. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when it appears in iTunes. Select the Summary tab, and click the Restore button.
3. Click Restore.
4. After a restore, the iOS device restarts. You should then see "Slide to set up". Follow the steps in the iOS Setup Assistant.
5. If needed, restore your device from a previous backup.

bryan.vance wrote:

This may sound silly but have you tried to DFU restore the phone and then activate it?

Given the information provided by the OP it IS silly. If the CARRIER can't provision it in on their network it is irrelevant what you do on the phone. Provisioning a phone can be done with the phone turned off.

I am having the same problem.. Where you able to find a soludion?

Did anyone find a solution to this problem?

It is a Sprint problem. First, the phone must have been sold specifically for use with the Sprint network. You cannot use a phone purchased for any other carrier on Sprint. The phone can never have been reported as lost or stolen. If it meets these criteria you have to call Sprint support or take it to a Sprint store.

i contacted the ctia about sprint not doing the unlocks (dsu) on the iphone4s and 5. i contacted hakima@sprint.com who responded to my complaint. she was telling me the same line i heard at the local corporate sprint store. i informed her that the iPhone 4s and 5 made for verizon are the exact iPhones made for sprint. all the hardware are the same. verizon and sprint put their software on to lock them to each carrier. verizon unlocks theirs why don't you? she said if it only a software lock it should be able to be unlocked. she said she would get back to me. been 2 days and no response. today i unlocked my verizon iPhone4 on iTunes . didn't even request it. to get the unlock according to the code you do not have to be a sprint customer. the phone can not be stolen, owe money on account and 2 year contract met. so what is their problem?

I have this exact same problem, except that my 4S sat in a drawer for almost a year unused. Now when I turn it on, the carrier is showing up as Verizon. Sprint is badgering me at their corporate store like I bought the phone elsewhere. Have you come to any solution? I have tried activating it over the phone/in person at least four times, and the Sprint representatives are clueless.

I simply want to go back to my old phone that I paid for and used under contract for two years.

Having the same issues, I have an old Iphone 4 that i want to use and I'm unable to activate for some odd reason on sprint network. Tried dfu mode and did factory restores and still can't activate.

When I went in to Sprint with it for the 4th time, the representative helped me figure out what happened.

Verizon did a large batch unlock of all Verizon iPhone 4s phones. I had bought a Sprint one originally, but in having it repaired at Apple, they sent me a new one. It was probably a Verizon iPhone flashed with Sprint firmware, so when they did their batch unlock, it also unlocked mine. That being said, they could have messed up and accidentally included some iPhone serial numbers from Sprint.

IF that happened, many (or maybe every?) Sprint user with an iPhone 4/4s that restores their phone with iTunes will have an expensive paperweight, solely because Sprint is the only carrier unlocked phones will not work on (hurray for Sprint customer support).

I ended up selling mine on Craigslist.

I had this same problem tonight. Not one sprint rep could help me out. I figured it out myself however, I plugged my iPhone into my mac and it asked me if I wanted to update to newest op system. I declined. Delightfully it asked me after if I wanted to update carrier profile. I accepted, now phone is activated.

Not sure if it will help anyone else, but it IS what worked for me.